Smoking rooms stubbed out in two years: Telegraaf

SINT MAARTEN/THE NETHERLANDS – Special rooms for smokers in cafes, bars and restaurants will not close for another two years, according to reports on Friday.

Although a court in The Hague ruled in February that these must be stamped out for the health of hospitality workers and the public, the Telegraaf claims that health secretary Paul Blokhuis will give them a two-year grace period.

Citing ‘sources’, the paper says that hospitality venues will, however, be given a definitive deadline for shutting these rooms after Clean Air Nederland brought a court case against the state.

The court ruled that non-smokers might feel social pressure to join smokers in the small rooms set aside for them. The World Health Organisation has also raised the issue of smoking in public places, which was in theory banned everywhere in October 2014 after being prohibited with some exceptions for small smoking rooms in 2008. (DutchNews)